Strategic Partnerships Manager

Description

Summary

Kuda is a money app for Africans on a mission to make financial services accessible, affordable and rewarding for every African on the planet. We’re a tribe of passionate and diverse people who dreamed of building an inclusive money app that Africans would love so it’s only right that we ended up with the name ‘Kuda’ which means ‘love’ in Shona, a language spoken in the southern part of Africa. We’re giving Africans around the world a better alternative to traditional finance by delivering money transfers, smart budgeting and instant access to credit through digital devices. We’ve raised over $90 million from some of the world's most respected institutional investors, and we’re rolling out our game-changing services globally from our offices in Nigeria, South Africa, and the UK.

Role overview

We are seeking a seasoned Strategic Partnerships Manager to join our dynamic diverse and global team. The successful candidate will have a key role in developing relationships with merchants and processing companies to create and facilitate profitable partnerships.

The Strategic Partnerships Manager will be responsible for identifying new business opportunities, creating, and implementing growth strategies, and fostering relationships with key industry players.

You’ll have a proven track record in fintech, banking, finance, or a similar industry, with a focus on strategic partnerships, integrations, and incentives such as cashback programs.

Responsibilities:

• Develop and implement strategic business development plans with the primary focus on building partnerships with merchants and complementary players in the fintech field.
• Identify new potential partnerships through market research, industry trends, and client feedback.
• Negotiate and manage relationships with existing and potential partners, facilitating mutually beneficial co-branding or cashback initiatives to boost customer engagement and loyalty.
• Collaborate closely with internal stakeholders (product, marketing, technology, legal, etc.) to ensure seamless integration and execution of partnership deals and related initiatives.
• Maintain and foster professional relationships with key decision-makers within partner organizations to ensure smooth business operations.
• Understand and keep up-to-date with the competitive landscape to effectively strategize business growth plans.
• Assist in the design and execution of service-level agreements (SLAs) and contracts with partner organizations.
• Regularly report on partnership performance and suggest improvement plans when needed.
• Build and develop strategic payments infrastructure partnerships among banking and payments providers, in line with Kuda’s banking strategy
• You will be responsible for full-cycle growth of partnerships through growth strategy, contracts negotiation, internal project management.
• Ensure best-in-class, strategic deal management rooted in KPIs and alignment with partners on opportunities of mutual interest.
• Develop and grow Kuda’s relationships with strategic partners, including their senior management teams.
• Supporting the business to develop and maintain global banking and fintech relationships that add value to Kuda and our customers.

Requirements

• Minimum of 5 years of total professional work experience, with at least 4+ years of developing partnerships within financial institutions and banks
• Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, Marketing, or a related field.
• Proven track record of developing and implementing successful business development strategies.
• Excellent negotiation, networking, and relationship-building skills.
• Strong understanding of customer behaviors and industry trends.
• Strong analytical abilities and problem-solving skills.
• Strong product knowledge and a track record of working effectively across multiple business functions
• Comprehensive experience implementing industry-wide partnership networks
• Experience negotiating complex commercial and product deals with tier-1 banking and payments institutions
• Superb verbal and written communication skills to effectively work cross-functionally and have the ability to speak and influence different teams internally and externally.

Benefits

Why join Kuda?

At Kuda, our people are the heart of our business, so we prioritize your welfare. We offer a wide range of competitive benefits in areas including but not limited to:

• Pension
• Competitive annual leave plus bank holidays
• Group life insurance
• Health insurance
• L&D training
• We are advocates of work-life balance and offer a 3 day per week remote working option

Kuda are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity and anyone seeking employment at Kuda is considered based on merit, qualifications, competence and talent.

We don’t regard colour, religion, race, national origin, sexual orientation, ancestry, citizenship, sex, marital or family status, disability, gender, or any other legally protected status. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.